


take my hand and we'll make it, i swear

by aceofdiamonds



Category: The Goldbergs (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-04
Updated: 2017-03-04
Packaged: 2018-09-28 08:35:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10081646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aceofdiamonds/pseuds/aceofdiamonds
Summary: the timeline of erica and geoff's relationship as they search for the perfect timing"But Evy's devastated and maybe the JTP --" ("JTP," Geoff whispers.) "-- maybe they were right. This isn't our time."





	

**Author's Note:**

> i have a lot of thoughts about them so this is kind of how i want things to work out? i've also got another goldbergs fic planned very different from this one but this happened at 3am last night. i wanted a title from the 80s so thanks living on a prayer by bon jovi

  
  


They talk about the time being right, as if the timing can ever be right.    
  
For starters, he's her brother's best friend, she's going off to college soon, and, well, the existing girlfriend is of course an issue. There's also the pining that was done on both sides to discuss and what they think their future could be, but for just now, they don't even think they should  _ try _ .    
  


  
.

  
  
Geoff and Erica meet when Erica is seven and Geoff is six. She's the kid with the kooky hair and the pile of toys and he's the friend trailing after Barry, a shoddy haircut and a forlorn expression on his face. It's not a meeting for the ages, not a first impression to write home about, but something about that first meeting of sticky hands and childish impatience resurfaces in their brains through a haze of nostalgia all those years later. Hey, they were kids. Nothing was ever going to happen here.    
  
When Barry talks about this day he remembers clambering over tiny Adam to commandeer the couch and creating chaos in his path, which, really, is par for the course.    
  
  
.   


  
  
It's around about eleven/twelve that Geoff grows hearts in his eyes and becomes a dog with a bone.    
  
Erica's in her awkward stage with frizzy hair and braces that make her lisp but she's fine, she's cool with it, she has her dolls and her Donnie, and everything's great. It's the years following Princess Leia's triumphant march across the big screen, taking the hands of worshipping girls and stomping on the hearts of boys who aren't Han Solo, and Erica dreams of big adventures.    
  
Geoff manages to talk to her a few times this year. Talking in the sense of squeaking a  _ hi _ whenever she passes him. At this stage Erica doesn't mind a bit of attention, someone who sees beyond the glasses, and so she smiles a little in return and waves, and inadvertently catalyses a mountain of hope inside Geoff's belly.    
  
"Your sister's so cool," he tells Barry, dropping down onto the couch to watch Charlie's Angels reruns.    
  
Barry pffts, sights already set on unreachable popularity and the triple threat of jock, cool kid, and sensei. "Erica's not the cool one. That spot’s reserved for Big Tasty."    
  
There's a moment, a few months into this year of realisations and changes, that Erica and Geoff briefly bond over brothers who know the exact art of ruining your life. It's a bond that lasts minutes, its setting the porch swing, before Barry bounds out of nowhere and Beverly follows, making noises about siblings and family and they always stick together. Geoff mutters something about his brother gluing his hands to a wall and Erica snorts.    
  
  
.

 

Skip forward a couple of years where Erica goes through her transformation and the gears shift on all her relationships while Geoff becomes a founding member of the JTP (JTP) and spins in the circles of Barry’s outlandish dreams. This is where their timing moves to one based on far-off looks and infrequent coincidences usually punctuated with a rolling of Erica’s eyes and a stumbling of Geoff’s speech.

 

.

  
  
When Barry and Lainey start dating half of Erica wonders what the hell's going on with the world and the other half wonders what the hell's going on with her. She's dated Drew Kremp, a relationship where the break up felt more intense than the dating, and she's had her eyes on a few more people, but it's been a while and sometimes she misses just hanging out.    
  
She gets her wish when the JTP (JTP) falls obediently into her manicured hands and all of a sudden she's getting revenge on her brother for stealing her best friend and she's become a sort of idol for these boys who have hung around the house forever but suddenly she's hot and the dynamics have shifted. Hey, she's having a bad week, she needs a confidence boost where she can get it.     
  
But it turns out these boys with their juvenile pointless games are funny and kind of sweet. Naked Rob gives her pointers for her Spanish homework and Andy makes her laugh with his commentary of The Price is Right. And Geoff, well, he regales stories of his family, funnier ones than you might think from a family of optometrists, and steadies Erica's skateboard when it nearly shoots out from under her, and she's blowing their minds, and yeah, Erica's actually having fun with the JTP (JTP).    
  
And then they go and spoil it all by saying something stupid like "Uh, do you feel the connection between us? Wanna hang out some time?"    
  
So Erica hands them back to Barry in exchange for Lainey. But that's not where their friendship ends; they spend more time together. They really are funny. In amongst that Geoff is there with his longing looks and overly casual date suggestions which is annoying and off-putting but these are interspersed with jokes and trivia about her favourite TV and honestly, it's not a bad price to pay.    
  
  
.   
  
  


This is something that only happens in movies, this falling into the perfect dance moves, the way their bodies are fitting together perfectly. Of course, this literally is a play-by-play account of the film, which Erica guesses Geoff has watched repeatedly since she mentioned it, but it feels like so much more than that when their eyes meet and they nod and all of a sudden Erica's flying into the air, Geoff's hands steady at her waist and God, she can totally see how Baby and Johnny fell in love.    
  
The beat stretches out beautifully and Erica feels like she's on top of the world and then she comes back down, once again steadied by Geoff's hands, and oh, is it just the lights and the music but is the way he's smiling at her a little less goofy and a little more cute?    
  
This is when they almost  _ almost _ could have had their moment if Erica had looked past everything else and fallen into the mood but then Geoff talks and the music screeches to a halt and oh, yeah, it was totally just the two of them getting too into their characters. For sure.    
  
  
.   
  


  
In a flash of reminiscing and head spinning realisation, the world narrows into Geoff Geoff Geoff. He tells her to  _ have a summer _ her own words thrown back at her and Erica wonders why she cares so much, why her chest is tight, when she might cry in the middle of the corridor.    
  
At home Adam and Barry are celebrating the start of summer, their fragile bond over reputations and protection seeping into their home life and Erica leaves them to flop onto her bed. Apparently this is her life now -- mourning missed opportunities and annoying, persistent, surprisingly funny and sweet Geoff Schwartz.    
  
The summer trickles past. Erica works on her tan, helps out her mom and dad, hangs out with Pops and doesn't whine, no, not once to Lainey about boys and their awful timing.    
  
"Sweetie," she says, hand on her shoulder and a sympathetic head tilt, "I know it sucks but he's gone, okay? There are more Geoff Schwartz in the world." She crinkles her nose a little here, judges. "Way more."     
  
"Yeah. You're right," Erica agrees, head held high and lip gloss slicked on. She goes with Lainey to a frat party she would've killed to get into last year and makes out with a boy with kind eyes and wandering hands. God, she's a mess.    
  
"I have to go," she mumbles into his face, tipsy and dizzy. "I have someone, I'm sorry," which is a sad little lie but he kisses her one more time and it feels good.    
  
Erica walks home between Barry and Lainey, their arms slung over her shoulders. She knows she's a state when Barry holds back from laughing and helps hold her hair back when she's sick in the bushes.    
  
"Geoff's one of my best friends but he's not worth all this," he tells us, uncharacteristically  sweet. Lainey beams at him for this and ugh, Erica's suddenly jealous of her brother and her best friend.    
  
"You're right," she admits for the second time that evening. "I'm gonna go back and find Josh or Jamie or whatever his name was and --"    
  
"You're going to bed," Lainey corrects. "Your mom's pretty cool but I don't think she'd approve of this."    
  
So Erica falls into bed and falls asleep instantly and in the morning the night comes back to her in waves of horror. At least now she knows that getting over one guy by drunkenly making out with another isn't the best way to go, despite what magazines say.    
  
  
.   
  
  
The thing is, Geoff is perfectly happy with Evy. They get along great, even Erica can see that. He's gentle and willing and Evy clearly cares about him from the looks she shoots Erica when she gets too close and the way she fusses with him, always holding his hand, fixing his shirt. But this all happens and Geoff will still look at Erica sometimes, when she makes up a boyfriend or gives him a compliment, like he still has all thoughts and feelings from before. He clearly likes Evy but Erica doesn't let go of that possibility that he's not completely over her. She's all for the sisterhood but this feels like a tiny win.    
  
Everything feels less of a win when Lainey convinces her to take Barry to the Halloween dance, hidden in a costume that Erica spent too much time making.    
  
It crashes and burns, of course, and Geoff is sent in to cheer her up. There's a song and a sad moment and Erica wishes now was their time, fuck courtesy and girlfriends like her mom.    
  


  
.

  
  
This is their brief time in the sun. A foot in the mouth from her dad and months of pining building up into a perfect kiss that has Erica swooning, her hands around Geoff's neck and her smile sloppy. See, she knew there was something worth waiting for with Geoff Schwartz, lame kid from round the block. Here they are in her driveway all these years later and Erica is so happy she almost thinks she could cry. But instead she leans onto her tiptoes and kisses him, feels him smile against her lips, and she thanks her dad for his messy involvement that has led up to this.    
  
"This is going to be awkward," Geoff says, forehead creased, before his kisses her again, both deliriously happy.    
  
"For sure," Erica agrees.    
  
"I'm going to break up with Evy," he promises, breathless, his arms around her.    
  
"Okay, but come inside for a bit first," because this has been a long time coming.    
  
  
.   
  
  
But here's the thing. Geoff doesn't break up with Evy. Erica gets it. Aside from all the things she said to Erica, some of which were warranted, she was trying to make Geoff jealous after all, she's not a bad person and she can see why Geoff doesn't want to hurt her. But it's two and a half weeks after that first kiss and they're still scrabbling for moments together.    
  
She feels helpless and ecstatic, finally getting what she's been wanting for so long, but there's just something off about this sneaking around, and then the feeling continues even after Evy and Geoff's relationship has dissolved and Rob and Andy make comments about them being the bad guys in this tale.    
  
"We're still going to make out in your brother's treehouse, right?" Geoff checks after their fight about who's in the wrong, and these sorts of conversations are completely different from the fantasy Erica had created in her mind. There's such a thing as regretting what you wished for, but Erica doesn't think she's quite reached that yet. It's more a case of adjusting.    
  
In Adam's treehouse Erica lies on her back, Geoff a solid warm weight above her and she loses herself in their kissing, in the hesitant hands that she wants to encourage. She focuses on the way their bodies are touching and the things Geoff is mumbling into her neck, sweet and kinda hot, but God, she wriggles her hips, kisses his neck, and still things feel wrong.    
  
"Geoff," she says, hands moving to his shoulders, twisting them away. "Geoff, stop a minute." He lifts his head, looking ruffled and hazy. "We need to talk."    
  
"This is what I've been wanting for ten years," he says, sounding almost puzzled, when she pushes what she's dreading saying but needing to say put into the space between them.    
  
"I know," she says, and in the favour of being honest. "These last few weeks have been the complete opposite of how miserable I've been this year."    
  
"But --"   
  
"But Evy's devastated and maybe the JTP --" ("JTP," Geoff whispers.) "-- maybe they were right. This isn't our time."    
  
"But we're meant to be together," which is almost a question and yeah, if there's anything Erica's gained for these past few months is that she really likes him, loves him even, and this isn't giving up, it's making it right, for the long run.    
  
"We shouldn't rush it, Geoff. This just isn't our time."   
  
And Geoff accepts this with a nod and Erica leaves him sitting there, walks into the house where her family have come together in one of their rare shows of collective support.    
  
"We've made your favourite," Adam says, smiling. "Shrimp parm."    
  
Erica starts to say, "No, my favourite is --" but instead she takes a seat and allows it to be spooned onto her plate.    
  
"After I thought we could all watch Ferris Bueller," her mom suggests, which starts an argument between Barry and Adam and deflects the attention enough that Erica leans into her mom's side, allows her to smooth her hair. "I'm sorry, honey. But it'll work out."    
  
"Why did I have to do the right thing?" Erica asks, head dropping onto her arm.    
  
"That's the kind of person you are," her dad says, eyes on his plate, but he squeezes her hand, and, really, it was him that brought her to this point in the first place, but his heart is there.    
  
"Thanks, guys."    
  
  
.   
  
  
Things shift at school, but not by much. They still spend time together, them and the JTP (JTP) and Barry and Lainey. Evy sits not far from them and after a few days of glares and loud huffs, she simmers into something quieter. There's a ball of guilt in Erica's stomach that makes her want to apologise but she doesn't know if that might make things worse. It twists and aches, somehow worse now than those times spent making out in the music room while she was at volleyball practice. Sometimes having a conscience is awful.    
  
"I need to go over there," Erica announces when a week has gone past. Like she said, things haven't changed much, no making out and no holding hands, that's it really, and so Geoff is there to wince at that.    
  
Lainey hisses, "Why? Evy's cooled off. She's fine."    
  
"Erica's looking at the principle of the thing," Barry cuts in helpfully. "I heard Adam and Pops discussing it with her last night."   
  
"Shut up, Barry," Erica snaps, which takes away some of her righteousness, but she honestly has been wanting to do this. "I'll be right back."   
  
She can feel their eyes on her as she sits down next to Evy, arranges the bracelets on her wrist for something to do until Evy decides to acknowledge her.    
  
"Evy," she says, when Evy still doesn't look at her. "I'm really sorry. I know this is the oldest excuse but it was really unexpected -- my dad got involved and it was a whole thing, and, anyway, I’m sorry. It was shitty of us.” 

Evy turns to look at her, blinks. “He was always into you but for a while he liked me too and I liked him.”

“He really does like you,” Erica rushes to say. “I know I was doing the whole jealous bit but you were a good couple.” 

She watches Erica for a beat, eyes narrowed, and then she sighs. “Thanks for coming over. I know I’ve been --”

“Hey, it was completely understandable. I definitely would’ve done the same --  _ have _ done the same,” when Drew Kremp strolls into her brain.

“What happens now?” Evy asks, sitting up straighter, becoming that no-nonsense woman Erica knows. See, this is how boys can destroy them but then they spend a week furious and crying and they build themselves back up, better than before. “I couldn’t help but notice you’re not sitting together.”

“Oh, no, well we’re waiting until the timing’s right. It wouldn’t be fair to you and we’re still working it out ourselves.” Explaining it out loud like this sounds like it’s the right thing but it also reiterates how long they’ve been waiting and how much she wants that waiting to be over. They both know what they want. 

Evy seems to understand from the way she nods, a tiny smile working at the corner of her mouth. It’s now that Erica realises just how like Beverley she is and how that doesn’t feel like the worst thing in the world.

“I’m going to be fine, Erica. I mean, Geoff’s one of the good ones but at the end of the day he’s just a boy, isn’t he? I’ve got other things to worry about,” which makes Erica laugh, that knot loosening exponentially. “Don’t take too long to worry about times being right or else it’ll be months down the line and you’ll have lost out.” 

“That’s true,” Erica agrees. "Everything will work out. Thanks, Evy. I'll see you around."

 

.

  
  


Over the next week Geoff seems to always be at the house, sometimes with Barry, mostly with Erica. They talk about anything and everything, from TV and music to bigger things that affect them like college and the fact that Erica’s going in-state and that they have a future, if only they’ll reach out and take it. 

For all the build up and the teasing, their discussions have brought them basically to where they were three weeks ago, this time on much more stable ground, and then it’s one night in Adam’s treehouse, which, honestly is getting used more by anyone else than by Adam, when they finally make it something more official.

Geoff’s saying something about Naked Rob and The Karate Kid and Erica’s confused but she doesn’t mind that, actually, it’s funny watching him get animated, and then she’s remembering what Evy said about too much waiting and life is short and they’re basically there  _ anyway _ and then -- this is too much thinking.

Erica kisses Geoff. She’s sitting at a weird angle with her legs in his lap and her body to the side so she has to grab his face and pull him towards her but she puts the work in and she’s kissing him and this almost makes the last couple of weeks worth it because she’s missed this, she’s missed this a lot, but the making out feels like a bonus compared to everything else, and, hey, that must be love, right?

She kisses him and he kisses her and this time things don’t feel secret or sketchy or wrong, they feel like everything has been leading up to this and this is them finally confirming it. It feels like that time she got up on the bleachers with Barry and Lainey to dance like Ferris Bueller -- different feelings are involved obviously but what she means is that it feels like a goddamn movie while also feeling like another day of her life. 

“Hey, so this has been a long time coming,” she says when she pulls away, arm around Geoff’s neck as she’s shuffled into his lap, huffing a laugh at the groan she gets in return. “But this feels better, right? This feels good.” 

“As crushed as I was when everything sort of fell apart before, yeah, I’m glad we did it this way,” he agrees, mouth wide in a grin. 

Erica mirrors him, her cheeks hurting from how happy she feels. “Now we know every last thing about each other and we have all these plans for summer and you can come visit me next year and -- what?” She trails off at the look Geoff is giving her, aware of how intense that all sounds. 

But he shakes his head. “No, I’m just -- I’m happy we made it here.”

“Remember when I said you were in the moron category when you asked me to Homecoming?” 

“I think you were right, though, I had a lot of growing up to do,” which is true, Erica feels the same about herself, but that’s not what she was getting at.

“Nah, I was just thinking how glad I am that I got over that and that I got to know you so much better.”

“You might even call yourself a moron,” Geoff says, kissing her cheek when she rolls her eyes at him.

“Okay, yes, fine, I was a moron,” she concedes. “But you like me for it anyway.” 

“Oh. For sure.” 

Erica kisses him again, giddy with happiness to the point where she has to duck her face to smile into his neck. So he’s her brother’s friend and she’s going off to college soon -- it’s totally fine. They’re meant to be after all; nothing can fuck with fate and her mom’s yenta Rolodex.

 

 


End file.
